Improvement in governing and recording apparatus for gas



D. B. PBEBLES. Governing and Recording Apparatus for Gas.

No. 210,352. Patented Nov. 26; 1878.

FIGJ.

PLPETERS, PnoYc-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGION, 11.0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID B. rEEnLEs, on EIJINBURGH, SCOTLAND.

IMPROVEMENT lN GOVERNING AND RECORDING APPARATUS FOR GAS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,352, dated November26, 1878; application filed November 4, 1878; patented in England,February 23, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID BRUCE PEEBLES, of Edinburgh, in the county ofMid-Lothian, Scotland, have invented certain new and use fulImprovements in Governing and Recordin g Apparatus for Illuminating-Gas,for which I have obtained British Letters Patent, dated February 23,1878, No. 755, and of which invention the following is a specification:

My invention is applicable to a well-known kind of gas-governor, whichdelivers a constant volume of gas to one or more burners, and in which alight disk, carrying an upwardly-actin g conical valve, is acted on bythe inlet-pressure, so as to raise the valve more or less into theexit-orifice. As hitherto made this kind of governor has been veryliableto get out of order in consequence of the movable disk sticking eitheragainst the side of the chamber in which it works or on the points ofsupport on which it rests when the gas is shut off, and does not bear itup.

My object is to avoid the defects referred to, and also to obtain a timerecord of the gas passing through the governor. For this purpose Iprovide a central supporting-point for a movable piece, taking the placeof the disk in the arrangements hitherto in use, and I place thiscentral supportingpoint considerably above the center of gravity of thepiece, the result of which arrangement is that the piece is not liableto stick when resting, while, if it should at any time touch the side ofthe chamber, it will center itself whenever it comes to rest on thecentral point, and thereby free itself from the side.

I further connect the stop-cock, by which the gas passing through thegovernor is let on or shut off, to clock-work, impelled by a spring orweight, and having a balance-wheel escapement, in such a way that theclock-work goes when the stopcock is open, and by dials records theaggregate time during which the gas is being consumed, but is at restwhen the gas is shut off.

Figure I of the accompanying drawing is a sectional elevation of myimproved apparatus, and Fig. 2 is section of the internal movablegoverningpiece as slightly varied in form.

I substitute for the usual flat disk a long hollow flanged cone, 1, madeof tin or vulcanite, or other suitable material, the conical pointforming the valve, while a central pointed stud or needle, 2, isprovided for the interior of the conical point to rest on when the gasis shut off. The cone 1 works in a cylindrical chamber, 3, in which. itsbottom flange fits as closely as can be managed without its freedom ofmovement being interfered with by friction. The gas has access from theinlet-pipe at to the space beneath the cone 1, and passes to the upperside of the cone by a lateral passage, 5, fitted with a screw-plug, byadjusting which the rate of flow can be regulated or changed. Thelateral passage 5 may be dispensed with, and instead thereof a smallhole, or, by preference, two diametrically-opposite holes, may be madein the cone itself for the passage of the gas to the upper side thereof.It is, however, difficult to make such hole or holes in the cone of theprecise size that may be required in each case, and the lateral passage5, with its adjustable plug, is to be preferred. Both expedients-namely, the hole in the movable piece and the lateral passagewith adjustable plug-are well known, and I make no claim to them.

The essential points in my movable piece 1 are the hollow conical point,by which the piece can rest on the needle 2, and the situation of thishollow conical point above the center of gravity of the piece; and it isobvious that these features exist equally in the form of cone or movablepiece 1 shown in Fig. 1 and in that shown in Fig. 2. In one the conicalform is continued down to the bottom flange; in the other the hollowconical point is connected to the bottom flange by a tubular orcylindrical part.

The recording-instrument is in the form of a small time-piece, 6, theworks of which are not shown, as they may be of any ordinary kind havinga balance-wheel escapement.

The stop-cock of the gas-pipe 4 is connected by a rod, 8, to africtional stop-slide fitted to the clock-work, so as to bear on andprevent the movement of the balance-wheel when the stop-cock is shut. Onopening the stop-cock the balance-wheel is released, and in conse quencethe instrument records on the dials the 2. The combination consisting ofthe automatic constant-volume gas-governor, with a clock-work movementhaving a balance-Wheel escapement, to which is applied a stoppingslideconnected to the stop-cock controlling the gas-supply through thegovernor, as here inbefore described.

DAVID BRUCE PEEBLES.

Witnesses EDMUND HUNT, LocK MOORE.

